Felting needles, having a slotted tip, are not novel, and I draw attention particularly to Glover U.S. Pat. No. 3,022,813, Zocher U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,512, Foster U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,276, and others.
Furthermore, it is not new to use such felting needles to provide a tufted product, wherein the strands of fibers are "looped" out of the base material. However, even small innovations in such felting needles can be critical in the performance of the needle (i.e. efficiency) and also in the effect of such needle has on the end product (i.e., the damage, or lack thereof, on the individual strands of fibers).
In addition, it is important in the operation of the tufted felting process, that the needle be designed so as to work more effectively on the pre-felted mats of material so that the loops which are pushed from the plane of the mats are unitary and compact rather than having fibers shooting off in all directions.